Buttonhole.



PATENTED JAN. 9, 190$ H. WALDEN.

' BUTTONHOLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1, 1904.

INVEHTUR aw g WITNESSES:

HENRY WVALDEN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BUTTONHOLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. .9, 1906.

Application filed November 1, 1904. Serial No. 231,009.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WALDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Buttonholes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to buttonholes for shoes or the like; and it is designed primarily to provide improved means for staying such buttonholes, together with a blind for veiling the structure, providing a neat appearance and reducing wear by chaf- 111 Tn the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of a shoe embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents an inside View of a section of a shoe-lap, partly sepa rated to illustrate the interior construction. Fig. 3 represents a perspective view of a stay employed for reinforcing the buttonhole. Fig. 4 represents an inside view of a partlyseparated lap, illustrating a modified construction; and Fig. 5 represents a perspective view of the preferred form of stay comprising a metal eye attached to a leather seat.

As shown in the drawings, the lap 1 comprises the outer leather 2 and the liningleather 4, connected by the stitching 9, the stays being secured between them.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, metal stays 5, having holes 5 therein, are stamped out of sheet-aluminium or other like material having sufficient strength and resistanceto serve a like purpose, and these eyes are placed between the reinforcing leather strip 3 and the lining-leather 4, the holes 3 and 4, which are formed in the leather strips, registering with the holes 5 of the stays. These three parts are secured together by the stitching 7 around the holes 8. The outer leather secured to the lining by the stitching 9 has therein the holes 10 registering with the holes 8, the outer leather not being connected to the inner parts about the holes. The holes 10 have lips 10 forming blinds concealing the outlines of the holes 8, snugly fitting about the buttons 11 and acting as a protection against chafin As shown in Fig. 4, the stay 6 is a metallic strip having holes 6 therein, the strip being placed between the interior strip of leather 3 and the lining-leather 4, the parts being secured together by the stitching 7. As before, the composite structure is secured to the outer leather 2 by the stitching 9 and theholes 10 of the outer leather register with the holes 8 of the composite structure, the latter holes being shielded by the lips 10 As shown in Fig. 5, the stays 5 are placed upon leather stays or reinforcing-pieces 12, from which tongues or flaps 12, are out, forming holes registering with the holes in the metal stays. These eyes are pasted together and the flaps are turned back over the metal and pasted to the member from which it is out. The composite stays thus formed are used in place of the strip 3 and stays 5,,shown in Fig. 2 or the strips 3 and 6 shown in Fig. 4, the stays being sewed to the lining-leather 4 with the eyes 5 in contact therewith and covered by the reinforcing-leathers 12.

It will be understood that the stays of sheet-aluminium are made sufliciently thin to provide the flexibility desired and to permit stitching theretlnough to hold them in place.

I am aware that it has been proposed to form buttonhole-stays by bending and stamping sheet metal to provide flanges and prongs for covering and engaging the edges of the fabrics about the buttonholes, and also by bending wire into loops to be secured to the fabric around the buttonhole by overcast stitching, and also by inlaying and stitching pieces of strong and pliable leather between the upper and the lining, the inlaid part being so slitted as to engage the button and prevent the latter from engaging the upper., My in.- vention is distinguished from these, in that it provides plain or flat stays of sheet metal so thin and ductile as to permit stitching there through, having openings of suflicient size to permit the buttons to pass without flexing the metal and being hidden between the lining of the upper within the outline of each of the registering holes thereof, so that the faces of the stays are wholly covered.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A buttonhole-stay comprising a metallic stay having a hole therein, and a leather stay having a hole therein, said leather stay having a flap folded over said metallic stay,

substantially as specified.

2. In a buttonhole, a stay having a hole therein, a leather member having a hole therein registering with the hole in said stay, means for securing said stay to said member, and a second leather member secured to said first member, said second member having a hole therein which registers with and partially covers the holes in said stay and first the hole formed by joining said elements, IO

member, substantially as specified. substantially as specified.

3. In a buttonhole, a sheet-metal stay hav- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set ing a hole therein, a lining and an interior remy hand, this 29th day of October, 1904, in inforcing piece having holes therein registhe presence of thesubscribing Witnesses. tering with the hole in said stay, means for H. WALDEN. fastening said elements together about said In presence ofholes, and an outer piece joined to said lining ROBERT JAMEs EARLEY, and having a hole therein registering with UTLEY E.-CRANE, Jr. 

